Objective To compare the clinical effects of totally thoracoscopic surgery and conventional median thoracoto my surgery in the repair of atrial septal defect(ASD),so as to provide reference for the clinical choice of atrial septal defect repair.Methods 131 patients with ASD from January 2015 to November 2016 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University were divided into two groups according to operation type:totally thoracoscopic group(58 cases),median thoracotomy group.The differences in operative time,cardiopulmonary bypass time(CPB),ventilator assist time,ICU stay time,postoperative hospital stay and other aspects were compared.Results There was no death and no serious complication in the two groups.There was no statistical difference between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05) in sex,weight,age,right atrial size and cardiac function.The time of thoracoscopic surgery [(3.6 ± 1.0) h vs.(2.6 ± 0.6) h] and the duration of CPB [(98.3 ± 35.8)min vs.(32.3 ± 16.1) min] were longer than those of median thoracotomy group (P ＜ 0.05).There was no statistical difference between two groups in the time of mechanical ventilation,ICU stay,postoperative drainage and postoperative hospital stay (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Although ASD repair of thoracoscopic surgery is difficult and the learning curve is long,but it can be said that the totally thoracoscopic ASD repair can achieve the same results as conventional median thoracotomy does,and it is effective and safe,and thoracoscopic surgery also has less trauma and cosmetic appearance,no bone structure damage,worthy of clinical promotion.